Give Michelle Obama credit — she gave a very good speech last night at the Democratic convention. But why should we assume anything less? She is a very good first lady. Americans want to admire their first ladies and Michelle Obama has made that easy.

Her fans do her a disservice, though, in their prickly, over-the-top slobbering praise of her every move and utterance. The message from the Obama political camp of "love her or else" breeds some resentment. But Obama has maintained dignity and a sense of humor. She has been effective on some important issues, and last night she delivered for her man and her party.

Her biggest challenge has got to be that she is married to an ego-maniac who believes he is the smartest person in every room. He can't turn that off when he rides the elevator up to the residence portion of the White House after a hard day of dithering.

Anyway, any observer can see that she is a model mother, daughter and wife. As a smart female Mitt Romney supporter told me, she is likable, believable and has great arms. Too bad for the president that first ladies don't drive any votes.

Democrats can't help themselves. They have ideological beliefs that they enshrine and espouse among themselves but then deny to everyone else. Specifically, after decades of precedent, they eliminate "God" from their party's platform and they drop Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and then they go out on TV and deny the common-sense conclusions that people make. They act indignant when questioners suggest that the politically correct, anti-God wing of the Democratic Party is in control. Similarly, they get red in the face when the question is whether or not the Obama Democrats' support for Israel is less than that of Democratic leaders in the past. The answer to both questions is: of course. Since Democrats know they can't admit these things and denying the obvious is insulting to voters, why do they expose themselves?

The uber-stern 30-year-old college student who takes herself way too seriously and wants public policy created so that we give her free birth control pills was front and center and celebrated last night in Charlotte. She tried to smile and I thought I saw her face crack.

Anyway, the Democrats love splinter groups and she is perfect. She wants laws that give her a personal government handout. I'm not sure how many people really relate.

All in all, a good night for the Dems.

Ed Rogers is a contributor to the PostPartisan blog, a political consultant and a veteran of the White House and several national campaigns. He is the chairman of the lobbying and communications firm BGR Group, which he founded with former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour in 1991.

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